Highlights from history: Sept. 12

Highlights from major events that happened around the world on this day in history.

1846: Elizabeth Barrett Browning

In 1846, Elizabeth Barrett secretly married Robert Browning at St. Marylebone Church in London.

Steven Senne

1959: Luna 2

In 1959, the Soviet Union launched its Luna 2 space probe, which made a crash landing on the moon.

Anonymous

1962: John F. Kennedy

In 1962, in a speech at Rice University in Houston, President John F. Kennedy reaffirmed his support for the manned space program, declaring: "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

Anonymous

1974: Haile Selassie

In 1974, Emperor Haile Selassie (HY'-lee sehl-AH'-see) was deposed by Ethiopia's military after ruling for 58 years.

STF

1977: Steve Biko

In 1977, South African black student leader and anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko (BEE'-koh), 30, died while in police custody, triggering an international outcry.

Matt Franjola

1987: Joe Biden

In 1987, reports surfaced that Democratic presidential candidate Joseph Biden had borrowed, without attribution, passages of a speech by British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock (KIHN'-ik) for one of his own campaign speeches. (The Kinnock report, along with other damaging revelations, prompted Biden to drop his White House bid.)

AP

1992: Abimael Guzman

In 1992, police in Peru captured Shining Path founder Abimael Guzman.

ELCOMERCIO

1992: Anthony Perkins

In 1992, actor Anthony Perkins died in Hollywood at age 60.

AP

1992: Space Shuttle Endeavour

In 1992, the space shuttle Endeavour blasted off, carrying with it Mark Lee and Jan Davis, the first married couple in space; Mae Jemison, the first black woman in space; and Mamoru Mohri, the first Japanese national to fly on a U.S. spaceship.

Paul Kizzle

1994: White House Cessna crash

In 1994, a stolen, single-engine Cessna crashed into the South Lawn of the White House, coming to rest against the executive mansion; the pilot, Frank Corder, was killed.

DOUG MILLS

2001: World Trade Center

On Sept. 12, 2001, stunned rescue workers continued to search for bodies in the World Trade Center's smoking rubble a day after a terrorist attack that shut down the financial capital, badly damaged the Pentagon and left thousands dead. President Bush, branding the attacks in New York and Washington "acts of war," said "this will be a monumental struggle of good versus evil" and that "good will prevail."

NICK FANELLI

2003: Fallujah, Iraq

In 2003, In the Iraqi city of Fallujah, U.S. forces mistakenly opened fire on vehicles carrying police, killing eight of them.

KARIM KADIM

2008: Train Collision

In 2008, a Metrolink commuter train struck a freight train head-on in Los Angeles, killing 25 people. (Federal investigators said the Metrolink engineer, Robert Sanchez, who was among those who died, had been text-messaging on his cell phone and ran a red light shortly before the crash.)

HECTOR MATA

2009: Health Care Protest

Ten years ago: Tens of thousands of protesters marched to the U.S. Capitol, showing their disdain for President Barack Obama's health care plan. The president, keeping up the drumbeat for his proposal, told a packed rally in Minneapolis, "I will not accept the status quo."

David Sherman

2009: Serena Williams

Ten years ago: Serena Williams' U.S. Open title defense ended with a bizarre loss to Kim Clijsters (KLY'-sturz) after Williams went into a tirade against a line judge who'd called her for a foot fault; following her outburst, Williams was penalized a point for unsportsmanlike conduct, ending the match, 6-4, 7-5.

Darron Cummings

2012: Benghazi

In 2012, the U.S. dispatched an elite group of Marines to Tripoli, Libya, after the mob attack in Benghazi that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. President Barack Obama strongly condemned the violence, and vowed to bring the killers to justice; Republican challenger Mitt Romney accused the administration of showing weakness in the face of tumultuous events in the Middle East.

Ibrahim Alaguri

2014: Ian Paisley

Five years ago: Ian Paisley, 88, the divisive Protestant firebrand preacher who had devoted his life to thwarting compromise with Catholics in Northern Ireland only to became a pivotal peacemaker in his twilight years, died in Belfast.

Peter Morrison

2014: Oscar Pistorius

Five years ago: A South African judge found Oscar Pistorius guilty of culpable homicide, or negligent killing, in the shooting death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp and declared the double-amputee Olympian not guilty of murder. (The verdict was overturned and replaced with a murder conviction by South Africa's Supreme Court; Pistorius is serving a 13-year prison sentence.)

Jerome Delay

2018: E-Cigarettes

One year ago: The Food and Drug Administration warned that the use of e-cigarettes by teens was an "epidemic," and ordered manufacturers to take steps to reverse the trend.

Steven Senne

2018: Jeff Fager

One year ago: CBS News fired top "60 Minutes" executive Jeff Fager, who had been under investigation following reports that he groped women at parties and tolerated an abusive workplace.

Richard Drew

2018: NYC Gender Legislation

One year ago: New York's City Council passed legislation allowing people who were born in the city but who don't identify as male or female to change their gender designation to "X'' on their birth certificates; the measure also allowed parents to choose the "X'' designation for their newborns.

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